At this time, UMRA does not have enough
information to reach any conclusions regarding the first three
subject applications.

The fourth and fifth permits listed above are
discussed at the end of this letter.

We do not oppose coal mining per se, and, our
approach is to work with the coal operators to ensure that public
interest is best served.

The mining and water treatment issues involved
with these three applications need further public explanation.

We thus request that WVDEP hold a public
hearing on these applications, so that DEP, Dana (Jimmy Laurita),
and, Consol, might outline their plans, especially as they affect
water quality in the Monongahela River watershed, and, mining
effects on the surface, for water wells, homes, and streams above
the Sewickley coal to be mined.

A major concern is the water quality legacy in
the Monongahela River watershed that will follow completion of
this mining. When the mining ends, what will be in place to
ensure perpetual treatment of mine water filling this new mine
and of course the old mines, before this water floods out of
these mines and enters the Monongahela River?

The 2,000+ acres of Sewickley coal to be mined
is located west of Morgantown, near Core and the Mason-Dixon
Historical Park, an area of interest to the folks in the Dunkard
Creek Watershed Association (DCWA).

Our UMRA Chief Technical Officer, Wally
Venable, and I, attended the quarterly DCWA meeting held
Saturday, 19 March, at the park. The meeting was chaired by Betty
Wiley, President of DCWA, and she also is an UMRA founder and
board member.

At the meeting, we learned that the Sewickley
coal to be mined is being flooded by water rising up from the
mined-out Pittsburgh seam below the Sewickley coal. This water
must be removed before the Sewickley coal can be deep mined.
Apparently the plan is to surface pipeline this water from the
new mine to a borehole feeding into the old Pursglove mine. The
water apparently then is to flow from Pursglove to Humphrey to
Arkwright-Osage, all old closed mines, and is to travel further
underground many miles east, through old abandoned mines, to the
Consol treatment plant located near Booth. This plant discharges
treated water into the Monongahela River near Flaggy Meadows,
close to Edna and Six & Plum Marina and Campground, well
south of Morgantown, into the pool of water behind the Hildebrand
lock and dam.

In other words, this water that must be removed
before the Sewickley can be mined, which one normally might
expect to enter the Monongahela River north of Morgantown, via
say Robinson Run or Dunkard Creek, now will enter the Monongahela
River south of Morgantown, upstream of the intake for the
Morgantown water treatment plant.

Now, this also leads to what is the plan for
treating water once mining begins? Will the water treatment plan
for active mining follow the above route? Or, will water be
treated and discharged into streams nearby the mine, eg, Robinson
Run and/or Dunkard Creek?

There are other questions of public interest.
What is the market for the coal? The proposed Longview
powerplant? Or, will the coal be trucked or otherwise delivered
to other customers, eg, via Jimmy Laurita's Maidsville river
terminal? What public roads will be used?

What surface subsidence problems are expected,
and, how will they be dealt with?

How long will the mine be operating? What is
the closure plan?

We, UMRA, and others, may of course have
further questions, as we learn more about what exactly is
proposed for this mining endeavor.

Now, we move to the fourth and fifth permits
cited in the subject line.

The fourth permit appears to apply to an
existing and now operating strip mine, currently supplying coal
to Mr. Laurita's Maidsville river terminal. It is also close to
the site for the proposed Longview powerplant.

The fifth permit is in the same general area as
the fourth permit. We have heard nothing since the 30 June 2004
hearing. What is the status of this permit?

We thus are seeing much permit activity
relating to mine discharges into the Monongahela River within
Monongalia County, from various entities owned, controlled, or
working with Jimmy Laurita. We therefore ask that WVDEP and Jimmy
Laurita explain how all this permitting activity and projects tie
together, and, is designed to protect from further degradation
the water quality in the Monongahela River and its tributaries.

Again, as we try to understand all of this
permitting activity, we most likely will have further specific
questions related to this request for a public hearing.